Privateers Baseball Blanks Valparaiso to Start Weekend

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NEW ORLEANS – The University of New Orleans baseball team (4-1) exploded in the middle innings and Shawn Semple threw 6.1 shutout innings and the Privateers took a 9-0 win over the Valparaiso Crusaders (1-3) on Friday at Maestri Field at First NBC Ballpark.
 
With the victory, the Privateers are out to a 4-1 start for the first time since UNO won five of their first six games of the 2002 season.
 
UNO took a 1-0 lead into the fifth when the offensive outburst started. Preston Marsh was hit by a pitch to start the inning and that brought up Chaz Boyer. After two unsuccessful bunt attempts, Boyer swung away and drilled a two-run homer down the right field line to push the Privateers lead to 3-0.
 
An inning later, New Orleans loaded the bases with one out and again, Marsh and Boyer came up with productive at-bats. Both drove in runs on a fielder's choice to extend the New Orleans lead further to 5-0. The inning ended on Valparaiso's second double play turned of the game.
 
Semple overcame a first inning that saw him throw 23 pitches and allow two baserunners on a walk and a hit batter. Semple allowed just two hits on the night and carried a no-hitter past 5.2 innings before it was broken up on a Josh Clark single. Semple struck out nine batters on the night and threw 70 of his 110 pitches for strikes.
 
"Shawn gave us a good chance to win tonight and you couldn't ask for more," said Coach Blake Dean. "He walked a couple of guys, but he found a way to get out of it and we had zero errors and no extra opportunities given. We bounced back, we swung the bat well and I was very pleased."
 
The game broke completely open in the seventh when New Orleans plated four more runs. The big hit of the inning came from Kyle Bracey who drilled a three-run triple into the gap that one-hopped the wall in left center field. Bracey and Boyer combined for six RBIs on the evening.
 
"Sometimes Chaz is amped up," said Dean. "I gave him a bunt for a base hit and he didn't get that one down then I gave him a bunt for a sac and he didn't get that one so I let him swing away and he hit a home run. Kyle came up big as well, but we're still hitting into too many double plays."
 
Valparaiso was aiming to rally in the seventh when they were trailing 5-0. The Crusaders had their biggest threat with runners on the corners and one away. Jarred Taylor came out of the pen and snagged a comebacker off the bat of James Stea which led to a 1-6-3 double play that killed the rally attempt. The combination of Taylor, Myles Blunt, and Ryan Leone pitched the final 2.2 innings and allowed just two hits and no walks while striking out three.
 
Ryan Calloway and Dakota Dean each collected two hits and scored two runs. Calloway also stole his first two bases of the season. Hezekiah Randolph went 1-for-3 with two runs scored and Aaron Palmer drove in the first run of the game on an RBI infield single. Palmer finished the night 1-for-3 with a run and an RBI.
 
The series continues on Saturday with a first pitch scheduled for 2 p.m.
 
Season tickets for the 2016 campaign are available for as low as $125 and single-game tickets start at $5. For additional information, contact the UNO Atheltics Ticket Office at (504) 280-GAME (4263) or log on to the internet at http://www.unoprivateers.com.
 
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